Lightning-arrester



(No Model.)

0,3. SHEPARD.

LIGHTNING ARRESTER.

Patented Nov. 6, 1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

CHARLES S. SHEPARD, OF RAYMORD, NEIV HAMPSHIRE.

LIGHTNING-ARRESTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 287,875, dated November6,1883,

(No model.)

To all who! it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES S. SHEPARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Raymond, in the county of Rockingham and State of NewHampshire, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements inLightning-Arresters, and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters andfigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

T iis invention has relation to improvements in lightning-arresters, ormeans for arresting atmospheric electricity which may be conducted bythe wires.

My invention may be used in telephone ant telegraph stations, but ismore especially adapted for use in connection with private telephones.

The invention has for its object to provide a cheap and simple meanswhereby lightning passing over insulated wiresvmay be arrestedand'dirccted to the earth. This object is ac complished by the devicesshown and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l isa representation of a face view of my device, showing the same arrangedabove a telephone with the wires insulated, and Fig. 2 is an enlargedview of the device with the wires grounded.

In the drawings, A indicates a telephone, which may be secured in thewalls of a room, and B the lightniug-arrester, which may be located atany suitable distance from the telephone, but is preferably secured tothe wall, about three feet above the telephone.

The arr-ester consists of a frame or block of suitable material, whichis provided with transverse perforations c, whereby the same may be heldby screws or other suitable means to a wall or the like. The upper faceof the frame is provided with copper or other suitable metalliestrips 1) and 0. These strips are placed vertically and parallel withrelation to one another, and they are not to extend over the face of thef tune, but form an interspace, as shown at d, the object of which willbe hereinafter explained. Above these metallic strips, and transverselythereto, are strips 0, of wood. These strips are perforated, as shown,to receive the bindingposts for both the line-wires and ground-wires,the middle posts being for the ground-wires. The lower ends of all theposts are in engagement with the metallic strips on the face of theframe.

G and D indicate, respectively, strips which are hinged to one side ofthe frame, the upper one of which has its under face entirely coveredwith copper or other suitable metal, and the lower one with transversestrips of homogeneous metal, which, when let down, will bear uponthestrips secured to the face of the frame communicating therewith, andclosing the interspace During a storm, when the telegraphic insulatedconductors may become charged by lightning, the operator or owner of themachine, by closing the bar entirely covered with copper, whichconnects'the line-wire with the ground-wire, and by leaving open thelower bar with three strips of copper, disconnects the machine from theline, whereby the wires are grounded, and prevents any accidentaldanger.

By this construction it will be seen that the arrester is under directcontrol of the operator or owner, and the passage of the electric orinduced currents prevented from entering the ground-wire when desired.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is 1. In alightning-arrester, the combination of a frame having upon its facemetallic strips divided by an interspace, the bindingposts being inengagement with the upper face of the strips, and a hinged bar carryingmetallic strips adapted to fold over the interspace and make connectionsbetween the line-wires and ground-wires, substantially as specified.

2, In a lightningarrcster, the combination, with the main frame, of theedge-strips carrying binding-posts, the upper face of the frame providedwith metallic strips arranged across the face of the frame with aninterspace, and two bars hinged to the side of the frame, the upper oneof which has its under face entirely covered with suitable metal, andthe lower one with metallic strips to cover the interspace 0f the frame,all substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.1

CHARLES S. SHEPARD.

\Vitnesses:

CHARLES A. SHEPARD, TRUE M. GOULD.

